The stars of the concert series Long Way to the Top. Back row: Jon Stevens, third row, from left: Col Joye, Mark Williams, Doug Parkinson and Steve Balbi. Second row, from left: Dinah Lee, Brian Cadd and Ian Moss. First row, from left: Glenn Shorrock, Lucky Starr, Marcia Hines and Little Pattie (Patricia Amphlett).Bob King

'Long Way to the Top' back for tour

TEN years after it broke concert ticket sale records, rock music extravaganza Long Way to the Top is back on the road.

More than a dozen legends of Australian music, including Brian Cadd, Little Pattie, Lucky Starr, Glenn Shorrock, Marcia Hines and John Paul Young, have reunited for a 10th anniversary tour.

"It was a ball," said Marcia Hines.

"I had a blast the last time.

"It's a great thing to travel and do a tour with musicians whom you admire, and you're friends with."

The tour will be a long-awaited reunion for many of the 17 performers, who will be travelling together to all four of the east coast dates.

"People outside the industry tend to think people in the industry hang out with each other all the time but no, we're always working," Hines said.

"We catch up at airport lounges, charity events. When you can travel together, we all tell jokes and laugh and enjoy life. We've all realised at this point in time that it's a wonderful thing we do for a living."

But the reunion tour is a bittersweet one with the passing of original tour member Billy Thorpe, who was also an integral producer of the original tour.

"It's sad to lose your comrades," Hines said.

"But the greatest thing is Ian Moss is going to do a tribute to him."

Where the 2002 tour included music released in the '60s and '70s, the 10th anniversary show features the addition of '80s hit-makers Mi-Sex, Dragon and Noiseworks.

"We all sit by the side of the stage and cheer each other," Hines said.

"It's like watching a great concert."

The tour starts in Melbourne on October 5 and heads north to Sydney and Newcastle before finishing in Brisbane.

Hines has fond memories of playing the Queensland capital a decade ago, and she promises a lively tour-closing show for Brisbane concert-goers this time around.

"Brisbane is a nice city in the sense that they really do love their music and tend to turn out," she said.

"When I try and see shows with performers I admire, I try and see either the first gig or the last one.

"The first one is filled with adrenaline madness and the last one is just filled with madness (laughs)."

Long Way to the Top plays the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday, October 12. Tickets available through Ticketek.